Children and passive smoking

The research group Paediatric Cancer Epidemiology Group at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) at the University of Bern has investigated how many former childhood cancer patients are exposed to passive smoke at home and whether this can lead to respiratory problems.

Some children are more prone to respiratory problems due to their cancer treatment. Children who haven’t had cancer can have respiratory problems when somebody that lives in the same house smokes. To date, nobody knows exactly what the situation is for children with cancer. The increased stress a serious illness in a family causes may make it more difficult for some family members to give up smoking. Better knowledge could help to make targeted enquiries during follow-up care and thus support affected families.

As part of the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (SCCSS), researchers asked the parents of child cancer survivors about their children’s respiratory problems. These include chronic coughs, asthma and recurring middle ear infections. Parents were also asked to say whether they smoked or not. More than 1,000 families took part in the ISPM study. The children concerned had survived cancer, were between the ages of 5 and 15 when the study was carried out and at least five years had gone by since the diagnosis.

According to the results of the study, almost one in three children lives in a household where people smoke. Children who live in a household where people smoke reported more respiratory problems in the questionnaire than children who grow up in a smoke-free environment. It is therefore important to support families and help any family members who smoke to give up. During follow-up care, this can be discussed with the parents and those affected can be referred to organisations that offer advice and tips, such as StopSmoking.ch and Lungenliga Schweiz.

Find out more information on the study here . For more interesting results from the research group, go to www.swiss-ccss.ch